Splash du Jour: Wednesday

On this day in 1928, the great author/poet Thomas Hardy died at his home near Dorchester at the age of 87. His heart was buried in the grave of his first wife in Dorset; his ashes were deposited next to those of Charles Dickens in Westminster Abbey.

A Thunderstorm In Town
(A Reminiscence, 1893)

She wore a 'terra-cotta' dress,
And we stayed, because of the pelting storm,
Within the hansom's dry recess,
Though the horse had stopped; yea, motionless
We sat on, snug and warm.

Then the downpour ceased, to my sharp sad pain,
And the glass that had screened our forms before
Flew up, and out she sprang to her door:
I should have kissed her if the rain
Had lasted a minute more.

-- Thomas Hardy --

Have a great Wednesday!